The Competition
by Fire Burning
Summary: Rachel, a trainer from New Bark Town, is so close to her goal of becoming the new Pokémon Champion that she can almost taste it.  But what happens when someone unexpected shows up?  Will she continue on?  A birthday present for my sister.  Gameverse, AU.


**A/N:/ This story takes place in the Heart Gold/Soul Silver gameverse. This story is AU, in terms of a character owning one of the version mascots when technically this person should not, the main character not being Lyra/Ethan, no "Passerby Boy," and the Champion's identity.**

**Happy birthday to the real Rachel Lladas—whose last name isn't actually Lladas. I hope you like the inside jokes and video game references I sneak into the story. Enjoy the 18-page fruits of my sporadic two-month-long labor.**

_- H A P P Y S I X T E E N T H B I R T H D A Y –_

"Well, aren't you good?" the icy-blue-haired woman I had just defeated said to me with an appraising smirk. She recalled her Vileplume, praising it for its hard work before turning her attention back to me. "I like that in a trainer."

"Thanks," I called back, grinning. I called my own Pokémon to my side, carefully patting her on the head without stabbing myself on her quills. I bent down to spray a hyper potion on her wounds. My other Pokémon probably needed healing, too. Two of them were out for the count at present. _Good thing I still have some revives left. _"You're not bad either. Any advice for me? The others were full of it."

Karen, the last member of the Elite Four, just laughed. "Continue on with your healing; I'll wait for the dramatic ushering-you-on part."

One by one, I released each of my Pokémon and tended to their needs. Best to be all set for the Champion, rather than making him or her wait, right? Not that I was trying to seem professional—curly brown hair, blue eyes behind glasses, short stature, T-shirt and Capri pants. I am me and that's all there is to it; no need to dress up.

Once I'd finished up tending to my last party member, I straightened up. "Right, so, you were saying?"

Karen gazed at me thoughtfully for a minute. "Strong Pokémon," she said suddenly. "Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best." She extended her arm to the side, palm up, gesturing to the hallway beyond her. "You understand what's important. Go on—the Champion is waiting."

As cheesy a speech it was, I felt my face split into a wide grin. "Thank you!" I exclaimed, dashing excitedly into the hallway. "Come on, Karin. The Champion's waiting!"

"Slash!" Karin the Sandslash (not to be confused with Karen of the Elite Four) squealed as she hurried after me.

The hallway was longer than I expected, and it grew dimmer with each step, making it difficult to see. "Karin, is it just me, or is this kind of creeping you out?" I whispered to my Sandslash.

"Sandslash," she whispered back, clinging to my leg so as not to get separated.

"Maybe this person trains Ghost-type Pokémon…."

At long last, we reached a tall, golden door. It was elaborately decorated. Carvings of various Pokémon were etched into the door, strange Pokémon that looked like they were taken from fairy tales. Detailed drawings of Ho-oh and Lugia framed the sides of the door, Ho-oh on the left, Lugia on the right. Both were facing inwards and took up a fourth of the width and all of the height of the door each, and the sun and moon respectively formed a halo around each legendary's head. There was definitely a Mew, a Pokémon whose existence was never proven and said to be a mirage. It was at the top of the door, soaring high above the scene, looking down. You could almost see the joy on its face. It was accompanied by a Pokémon about its size. It looked a lot like a weird kind of fairy. Its mouth was open and (judging by the markings around the Pokémon and the trees) it appeared to be talking or singing or making a noise that was making a forest far in the background glow. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou (I recognized them, for I'd seen them before, and caught Suicune) were racing over the hills depicted at the bottom of the door. They looked pretty different, though—recognizable, but different, like the artist had no idea what they were supposed to look like. Three birds—one with spiky wings, another with feathery wings and a flowing tail, and another with wings—flew low over the scene.

All in all, it was the most confusing door I'd ever seen, and the most beautiful, too. But something about it seemed so awfully familiar…like I should remember something about it. "Wow…," I sighed, awestruck. "That's such a cool door. Really big, too, and golden….so this must be it!"

Karin pointed up at the elaborate handle. "Slash! Slash!" she squeaked, jumping up and down with anticipation and impatience.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," I giggled. I tugged on the handle; the door moved only a hair. "Stupid—ugh—door," I complained, yanking hard on it, "won't—open—aaargh!" I fell flat on my behind as the door suddenly flew open. "Oww," I whined, struggling back to my feet. "That hurt! What the heck was that all about?"

Karin and I both peered inside. There was nothing to be seen. "Slash, sandslash," Karin announced, puffing out her chest, and she bravely made her way into the room. I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed her to make sure that I didn't lose her. This room was almost pitch black, lit only by a very dim, almost ethereal light from some mysterious source. The door shut behind us. Karin carefully clutched my leg with her claws and we both moved forwards, inch by inch, trying not to crash into anything. Just who would want to have a room this dark, anyway?

"Hello?" I called out nervously. My voice reverberated; apparently this room had a high ceiling. Not that anyone could actually see it. "Is anybody there? I'm here to challenge the Champion!"

All of a sudden, Karin and I were blinded by a spotlight beaming down from the ceiling. I cried out in pain, clenched my eyes shut, and covered them with my hands. Why on earth would someone shine a spotlight down on someone who just traveled in the dark? Was he or she trying to blind his or her opponent? That's a dirty trick!

"If you are looking for the Champion, you've come to the right place." A voice spoke out of nowhere and everywhere. It sounded like two voices merged into one—a high one and a deeper one, speaking at the same time. The weird combination-voice echoed, too.

"I am! I'm…I'm here to fight the Champion," I shouted, still rubbing my eyes. _Painpainpainpainpain_…

"Very well," the voice said coolly. "State your name, challenger."

"R-Rachel," I stammered, finally removing my hands from my eyes. The light was suddenly a lot more tolerable. I guess I had amazing light-adapting powers. Or maybe the light had just dimmed. Yeah, it dimmed, by a lot. Apparently blinding the visitors was intentional. Nice of him…or her. I looked around wildly for the source of the voice, but the room was too dark with just the now-dim spotlight and the creepy, misty light. "Rachel Lladas. I'm from New Bark Town. And I, um, I'm here to challenge you."

There was a barely discernible pause, but a pause all the same. "So, Rachel Lladas…you have come from a small town at the bottommost corner of Johto in search of the title of Pokémon Champion. You have earned eight badges and traveled the entirety of this region. And yet, in your journey you have not faced anything quite like what you will find here. So tell me, Rachel—are you prepared for the battle of your lifetime?"

Something about the dramatics was making the hypothetical bell ring very, _very_ loudly, but I was too excited to take much notice of it. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Time for a victory pose just to show how psyched I really was. "Yeah! I'm totally ready!" I shouted, shoving my hand into the air and holding up my index and middle finger and my thumb. _V for victory and L for luck!_

The voice changed abruptly, no longer two-in one and echoing but just high-pitched and happy. The voice still echoed, but it was a natural kind of echo, a voice bouncing off that high ceiling, not like before when it was all eerie and creepy. "Hah! I can't believe you still use that victory pose I taught you. Well, you'd better be ready, 'cause I've waited a _really_ long time for you to reach here!"

I jumped a mile high, completely taken aback. I _knew_ that voice. But it couldn't be her, my rival from as far back as childhood! She was supposed to be off in Kanto. She had gone while I was still lingering around Olivine City. I hadn't seen her since, except over the videophone, and calls from her were pretty infrequent nowadays. But she'd written letters telling us all about what was going on in the different places she'd visited. How could that be if she was…? Maybe…I was just imagining things? Maybe I didn't hear her voice at all.

"Julie?" I asked hesitantly.

"No. No, my name is George. Nice to meet you," came the sarcastic response. Suddenly, a spotlight shone down and illuminated the back of an enormous throne on a rotating pedestal. The cord of a microphone stretched over the arm of the throne, attached to a machine sitting on the floor. The microphone was tossed away impatiently. The chair rapidly spun around multiple times, apparently for the person's own amusement. When it finally began to slow down, the occupant reached down and stopped its progress with the toes of her shoes. The girl jumped off it and onto the platform, grinning widely. "Dude, who else would it be? I'd like to think you recognize my voice by now. Seriously though, nice to see you again, dear little sister of mine."

I would recognize Julie anywhere. She likes to show off her personality through her clothing and hairstyle. Granted, straight on top, ringlet curls on bottom (it somehow grows that way naturally), frizzy, flyaway hair wasn't exactly a _style_, per se, but she claims it's deliberate. The new blonde highlights in her mouse-brown hair were a nice touch. And the brightly colored top, zip-up hoodie, pair of jeans (ripped on one knee, an incident I remembered vividly), and sneakers she wore was a very familiar ensemble. Julie _always_ wore that kind of outfit. And the blue eyes were a big clue. I would recognize her _anywhere_—and this person was her.

"Julie?" I asked again. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't get it through my stunned mind that Julie was _here_ of all places.

"Jeez, what's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost…and I certainly hope it's not me," she replied snarkily, but she was smirking.

"I—Julie, I thought you were in, like, Fuchsia City or something!" I blurted out, almost sounding accusing. "_Why are you here_?" Karin snickered at me, apparently finding the annoyance in my voice funny. "Oh, be quiet, Karin! You're so mean!"

Julie held her hands up in mock surrender, her eyes wide. "Yikes, calm down." I just glared at her. I'm mad that she lied about where she was. Julie noticed and shrugged. "I'm here 'cause I'm the Pokémon Champion. Duh."

This startled me enough to forget about being annoyed with her about lying. "Wait—what? You're the Champion? You can't be the Champion."

"Aaaaand why is that?" Julie asked, giving me a genuine frown and crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well…I don't know, you just can't! It'd be _weird_ if you were Champion," I mumbled.

"…Right. 'Cause me and weird totally don't go together at _all_," she retorted in a deadpan voice. "Would this prove it?" Julie pointed a remote that I only just now realized she was holding, and with a press of a button, all of the lights turned on.

Since I had been standing under a bright spotlight, the sudden appearance of light wasn't as utterly devastating as it had been the first time, but nevertheless it was still pretty painful. Julie and I both clutched our faces in agony; I recovered faster than she did, though, and had a chance to look around before Julie even considered moving her hands away from her eyes.

The room was very spacious. It was about the same width and length as the Elite Four's arenas, but this one had a much higher ceiling, like I had predicted. The walls were painted gold. They almost looked like real gold, but I was pretty sure that, even for the League, getting real gold walls was _way_ more expensive than they would spring for. The walls were decorated with various scenes, mostly depicting legendaries. It looked like these were hand-painted. The floors were made of polished, light brown wood, with the arena boundaries marked clearly by white paint. A red square rimmed by fencing was at one end of the arena, and a blue one at the other. At the front of the room, where Julie was standing, there was a raised platform, and on that, a pedestal where the ornate throne stood proudly.

"Do you like it?" Apparently Julie had recovered sufficiently.

"It's really cool!" I exclaimed, still looking around.

"I'm glad you like it." I turned back to Julie to see she was smiling. "It took a while to get this finished."

"It does have your style," I commented ruefully, glancing around again. "I guess you really _are_ the Champion…." My eyes grew wide as what that meant sunk in. "Oh, _holy crap_! You're the _Champion_! That means I'll have to _battle_ you!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Julie observed. Then she crossed her arms, frowning slightly. "Is it?"

"Well—you know, it's just, it's weird. We've battled before, all the time, but it's way different now."

"Oh." Evidently Julie didn't know what to say to that, because she just turned away and walked back onto her pedestal. She stood facing the throne, silent.

"I think it's a good thing," she finally told me. "I've fought a lot of battles here. Mostly little wanna-be kids who think they're all that. The Elite Four takes some pity on them and gives them an easy time of it. But I don't, so they get _creamed_ once they reach here. But y'know what?" She looked over at me, very seriously. "Taking it easy on them just 'cause they're inexperienced little kids doesn't help anyone. Doesn't help our League's reputation and doesn't help the kids who make it here and get all cocky and think they're something special. They've gotta _earn_ their place here."

She casually looked over towards the wall behind her throne, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. I noticed that the indicated wall had row upon row upon row of framed pictures, hundreds of them. From what I could see of them, it looked like each one was of a person standing in an arena, a lot like this one. The very last person was a lot younger than the rest—Julie? The picture next to it looked like it was of some tall guy. "That's the Wall of Champions. All the Champions get their picture taken in their redesigned arenas. The second to last one is of the guy who was Champion before me. Tall, gray hair, weird mustache. His kids were cute, though. Little five-year-old twins. I met them once at some reunion thing." She sighed heavily, shrugging lopsidedly, helplessly. "I don't belong on that wall. I only got this position because that last guy got tired of it and _wanted_ to give it up. He let me win. I understand the feeling and all…but that's just not cool with me. So I battle everybody who comes in, trying to make myself worthy of this place. But the kids are all too inexperienced to give me a good fight, and the older candidates who look like they could do it refuse to battle since I still look like a kid and don't seem like a threat." This was true; Julie was small, petite, and had a younger-looking face, making her look more like fourteen than eighteen. "They want to win fair and square, too, though, so I don't blame them. The ones who do fight me aren't too difficult to beat."

Julie suddenly smiled, almost appraisingly. She paced from side to side, her eyes never leaving me. "Now _you_, Rachel, you're _good_. Even though you're only sixteen, you're the only opponent who's really given it their all against me and gave me a run for my money—literally, since I have to pay up whenever you win," she added ruefully, patting her pocket where her wallet presumably resided. It made sense; Julie never did like bags.

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at me with a weird kind of intensity. You could almost see flames blazing behind her eyes. Yikes. "So—here's your chance! One of us and our team is going to earn their place here and actually deserve it. Let's see who that is."

"But…Julie…don't you like being Champion?" I protested evasively. I knew how the League worked: if you got beaten, you could never be Champion again. Thinking of this as battling to gain a title was one thing, but the way she was phrasing it, it was like she was asking me to challenge her on a personal level! That was _way _different than thinking of this as just…something like…a game. Like nobody would be crushed if they lost: _oops, sorry, try again_.

Julie shrugged. "Being cooped up in this place so often I could live without, but I like tormenting my challengers. It gets boring, waiting all day for three or four people. I've gotta liven it up. Thus, I blind and freak out my challengers. It gets some hilarious reactions, too. Especially from the kids." Oh boy. We're in for it now. The long-winded, extremely random speech is starting. "And I like having my own arena. My own place to train. It's all mine and I can fix it up any way I want. The managers of the League provide the money for it. Like a Keep the Champion Happy Fund. Don't want your Champions unhappy!" I snorted at the false enthusiasm in her voice as she said that. "They pay for whatever I want. Like my door. Did you like my door? All the legendaries? I designed it. I love those old legends." Oh, yeah! I knew something was familiar about that door! When we were kids, Julie had always babbled on about how she loved the legendary Pokémon. Every other word out of her mouth had something to do with them. "The managers weren't happy about it, but tough luck for them. The old door creaked really loudly, which pissed me off. It either had to go, or I was going to have poor ol' Cinder burn it down."

Right, now that the rant was over, I couldn't help but try to point out one outcome of this whole "challenge me, I must be worthy" thing in hopes that she'd realize what she was doing. "But…if I defeat you, then you'll lose this place. Your door and everything. You'll be the _old_ Champion. And I'll be the one that made that happen!"

Julie stared at me incredulously, perching herself up on her throne again. "So what? It was _your_ dream to end up in the League—never mine. I just like traveling and training and looking for legendaries. Earning gym badges was just a way of getting the experience I needed to get further into the region. I only came to the League because I had to. You know, the whole 'you've got Pokémon, you must challenge the League' thing? The people at Viridian City went rabid when I told them I wasn't planning to." She rolled her eyes. "How dare I not head towards the League? I should be arrested!" she mocked the townspeople. "But, you know, others won't recognize you as a respectable trainer until you at least _try _beating the league. So, I tried. I gave it my all, 'cause losing on purpose is just something I don't do. And I won by a _fluke_! It's not fair to anyone else. I wasn't training for this at all. I'm immortalized for something I haven't deserved." She patted the arms of the throne, sighing. "So, I do my duty and keep this seat warm for whomever's going to come after me—be it my team and I when we've really earned our place here, or the person who's skilled enough to defeat us." She smirked. "But, mind you, if I earn my place here by beating you, I don't plan on leaving. I've got a good deal here. Why give it up? But if you win, I'll graciously leave and never look back. Heck, I might finally snap and give into pyromania by burning any and all records of my Championship! Not likely, though. The League people might not forgive me if I burn down their building."

"Julie, I—"

Julie being Julie, she interrupted before I got a chance to say much. "Come _on_, Rachel, enough of the protesting. I'm bored and I want to battle already, and as I am older than you I won the debate before we even started. So quit it. I've made my decision, you made yours by coming here, and you can't back out—literally, since my door locked behind you and I have the key."

I hesitated, but I knew I was fighting a losing battle. I sighed irritably. "Fine! So, where do I go?"

"Over there." Grinning, she pointed to a colored square at the very end of the arena with a railing on all four sides. "You didn't notice it? Most people fall over it on their way in. It's hysterical to listen to, since I can't see any more than you can. The kids always scream. It's funny once I stop feeling bad. Heh."

Ignoring the slightly more sadistic comments coming out of Julie's mouth, I answered her question. "Well, I didn't trip over it, and I saw it when you turned the lights on, but I didn't know that's what it was for. Come on, Karin!" I called to the surprisingly quiet Sandslash. "Time to start."

"Slash!" Karin exclaimed, leaping up and following me as I ran over to the square.

"Lock the gate once you're inside!" Julie called after me.

As Julie implied, there was a little gate that could use to get inside the square area that locked from the inside. I waved once Karin and I were inside to let Julie know we were ready. This was a huge room, after all; better to make sure she could tell.

Julie waved back to signal she saw me and jumped off the throne and platform. She walked over to another colored section and entered it. We were at opposite ends of the big arena. There must have been a control panel on her side or something, because the squares—which were really platforms—rose a few feet in the air. Karin squealed with fright, clearly not expecting this. "Relax, Karin," I soothed my Pokémon. "Look, it's stopped."

"Hey!" Julie's shout distracted me from calming down the startled Sandslash. Thankfully, it also distracted Karin. "So here's the deal," she called to me from across the room. "We'll go six-on-six. No health-restoring items, not including held items. No reviving your Pokémon to get back in the battle once that Pokémon's been defeated. Switching Pokémon counts as a loss. Self-sacrificing moves like Destiny Bond and Perish Song will be illegal when down to your last Pokémon." She watched me with a familiar, calculating smirk. "I meant it earlier when I asked if you were prepared—because I'm not giving it up that easy!" she shouted, tossing a Pokéball into the arena.

"Neither am I!" I yelled back, throwing my own Pokéball to match hers.

A Nidorina emerged from Julie's Pokéball. The blue rodent Pokémon showed off her poisonous spikes threateningly, letting out a cry of challenge. A Butterfree named Ricky soared out of my Pokéball, fluttering happily above the arena.

"Is that Ricky?" Julie asked, waving at the Bug/Flying-type. "I remember when he was a little Caterpie! I called him a Buggie Pie. 'Cause of Cater_pie_, remember?"

"Yup, that's Ricky," I agreed proudly. "And that's the Nidoran you caught right before I got my first Pokémon, right? She was really cute."

"Isn't she still cute?" Julie laughed. "Enough thinking about the olden days. Let's start the battle! Nadia! Set up some Toxic Spikes!" Her Pokémon called back to her confidently and crouched on all fours. The needle-like scales on her back stood on end, and she shook herself violently. Scales flew in all directions, landing everywhere within five feet of her at various angles and generally with their points up. Yikes. That was a nasty place for battling on foot. Good thing Ricky was a Flying type and fought from the air!

"Use Tailwind!" I called out to Ricky. Ricky glowed with a faint blue aura and flapped his wings rapidly. I felt a breeze ruffle through my hair; Ricky had changed the direction of the air currents in the room to blow from behind him, towards Julie's corner.

"Poison Sting!" Nadia growled deep in her throat, and, still on all fours, lowered her front flat against the ground, taking aim, and shook herself again. Thicker scales whipped through the air in Ricky's direction. "Way to go!" Julie cheered, grinning.

There was no time to avoid the spikes. "I, er—Ricky, use, um, Harden!" It was a move I had made sure Ricky remembered from his Metapod stage. Don't ask why. But right now, I was glad he knew it, because while he took damage from the pointed scales, they failed to puncture his toughened skin.

"Oh Arceus, that sounds so _wrong_…," Julie lamented, hiding her face, as she ordered Nadia to use Bite. The Poison-type darted close and jumped up to chomp down on Ricky's foot. He let out a cry of pain and kicked her loose, and after struggling to her feet Nadia ran back to the middle of her protective circle of Toxic Spikes. "Butterfree aren't even supposed to know Harden!"

"They do if you make them remember it from being Metapod right after they evolve!" I yelled back, grinning. "Use Sleep Powder, Ricky!" Ricky swooped low over Nadia, shedding dust from his wings. Nadia tried not to breath it in, but the powder caused her to sneeze and therefore take in a breath by accident. She was out like a light. "Now, finish her off with Psybeam!" Ricky let loose a beam of multicolored light, which struck the sleeping Nidorina. Nadia screamed in pain from the super-effective attack but couldn't escape the throes of the Sleep Powder. The attack left her visibly pained and definitely in no condition to battle.

"Darn it, Rachel, Nadia is hard enough to wake up as it is without you drugging her. Return!" Julie called back her Pokémon, whispering praises to the Pokéball before clipping it back onto her belt. She whipped out a Great Ball, calling out, "Mako, you're up!" and releasing a truly colossal Tyranitar.

"When'd you get a Tyranitar?" I asked, watching the Pokémon in awe thought the sandstorm its presence had conjured. Even for Tyranitar, this thing was huge.

"Mako here hatched as a Larvitar from an Egg a friend of mine gave me," Julie told me. "Ready, Mako? Careful with the Toxic Spikes," she warned her Pokémon as it moved to the center of the arena.

Ricky rose higher into the air to match its height, fighting against the sandstorm and looking absolutely petrified. "You can do it, Ricky!" I screamed. But it turned out that poor little Ricky was no match for the giant earth dinosaur; he was nearly squashed by a doubly effective Rock Slide attack that left him unconscious. "Well, you did really good," I assured him as I recalled him back to his Pokéball. "Show this guy what power really is, Dyarine!"

"Mako's a girl," Julie corrected with a laugh, but she looked impressed by the appearance of my Dragonair.

Defying all the laws of gravity (for Dragonair seem to swim through the air rather than move on the ground), some of the Toxic Spikes shot up into the air and poisoned her. "Argh! How does that _happen_?" I protested angrily. "She's off the ground! It shouldn't be effecting her, but nooooo, the Toxic Spikes just _shoot up into the air_. It's _perfectly_ normal for things to do that."

Julie snickered. "That was really funny." She whipped her hand out towards Dyarine in a sweeping motion. "Fly, magical flying Toxic Spikes, fly!"

Dyarine started off the match with an Aqua Tail straight to the face. Mako, who did not seem to appreciate that much at all, retaliated with a ruthlessly ferocious Ice Fang that even Julie thought was unnecessarily powerful. Dyarine writhed in pain and shrieked. "Mako! Let go of her!" Julie yelled, and Mako immediately released my Dragonair. I winced; the puncture wounds in her back were bleeding.

"Aqua Tail, again!" Dyarine splashed water into Mako's face once more. Luckily, Dyarine's Shed Skin ability came into effect, and she shed the poisoned layer of skin as easily as a person taking off a coat. Mako lunged for her, trying to use Crunch, but Dyarine slipped out of the way just in time and launched a Hyper Beam.

Mako roared angrily, writhing under the powerful attack. "Come on, hang on!" Julie pleaded, but Mako collapsed in a heap, cracking the floorboards under her weight. "Well, that'll need fixing," Julie muttered, leaning over the railing to look more closely at the damage. She pulled out Mako's Great Ball to return her. "You did good, Mako. We just need to work on your biting techniques." She pulled out another Pokéball. "Go for it, Shinra!"

A Pikachu materialized. A Light Ball was attached to a chain around its neck. "Pika!" it squealed, waving up at me happily as if it recognized me. This confused me; Rayne had evolved into a Raichu before Julie had left for Kanto, and as far as I knew Julie hadn't had another Pikachu. But Rayne did have kids….

"Is that one of Rayne's babies? The Pichu who know Volt Tackle?"

"Uh-huh. Well, Pikachu now. Shinra, Zelos, and Rita. Rayne's taking a break from training. This is Shinra's first Champion battle!" Shinra nodded excitedly, doing a little dance of happiness.

"Looks like he's excited," I pointed out, laughing.

"Right again." Julie smiled. "Okay, Shinra, use Thunderbolt!" The lightning struck Dyarine but did little damage as she was resistant to it. She retaliated with Dragon Rage; Shinra squealed with pain, rubbing the scorched fur on his tail. Julie ordered him to follow up with Slam. Dyarine, already weakened from the previous round, barely managed to withstand the blow. I had her use Dragon Dance, hoping to power up for Dragon Rush, but a critical hit from another Slam attack knocked her out of the running.

"You did really well, Dyarine!" I told my Dragonair as I recalled her to her Pokéball. I sent out my Togetic, Smiley, cheering loudly. "You can do it!" I shouted to my Pokémon, who grinned back at me. He had a type disadvantage, but even as young as Smiley was, Shinra was even younger and more inexperienced. "Use Metronome!"

Smiley waved his little arms back and forth, dancing just out of Shinra's reach. He glowed with a strange white light, which I knew meant the attack was beginning. Smiley suddenly opened his mouth and let loose a blindingly bright, indigo beam, accompanied by a horrible roaring sound. Julie and I clutched our ears. When the attack was over, Shinra was definitely out for the count, and Smiley looked dazed.

"What kind of attack was _that_?" Julie demanded, staring at Smiley with an utterly dumbfounded expression as she returned Shinra to his Pokéball.

"I have no idea," I mumbled back, pulling out my Pokédex to inquire about just that. Unfortunately, said Pokédex was less than helpful. _ROAR OF TIME,_ it informed me in a monotone._ LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS ATTACK. _"_Okay_ then….Smiley just used some weird attack called Roar of Time that even my Pokédex is confused about."

"Well _that's_ encouraging." Julie frowned, unclipping another Pokéball from her belt. "Now…I think this next Pokémon ought to make this fun. Go, Toddle!" A Togekiss emerged from the Pokéball, soaring over the arena and chirping happily. "No, no, no—not here, down _there_," Julie instructed, laughing as her Pokémon nudged her side. "You're battling." Toddle chirruped again and descended to be level with Smiley, who looked very intrigued by what would be his evolution.

"How'd you get a Togekiss? I got my Togepi as an Egg from Professor Elm who got it from some weirdo named Mr. Pokémon, and he said they're supposed to be really rare."

"I got him from a pen pal of mine from Sinnoh. Apparently you can find Togepi there, but they're rarely ever seen. My friend knew I liked them so when she found one with this weird device thing, she traded it to me." She grinned. "So, let's see whose Togepi evolution is stronger, shall we?"

This round was long and strenuous. Attacks flew back and forth for what seemed like hours, each move matched by the other's.

"Air Slash!" Smiley was struck right across the stomach.

"AncientPower!" Toddle was bombarded by levitating rocks.

"Use Wish!" Toddle seemed to pray, keeping an eye on Smiley's movements.

"Try Double-Edge!" Smiley dive-bombed Toddle, who swayed but kept up his concentration.

Smiley was the first to fall. Squeaking weakly, he sunk to the floor and looked up at me pitifully. "Tic, toge tiku." He shook his head, indicating that he was too tired to keep battling.

"It's okay, Smiley. You tried," I assured my Pokémon. "You're still little. I think Toddle's a lot older than you, so he can fight longer."

"Tiku," Smiley replied, flying up to my platform, where I patted him on the head and returned him to his Pokéball. He refused to be recalled without some sort of affection being given to him beforehand. That Pokémon could even have a life-threatening injury and refuse to be recalled without sufficient bonding time.

"Guess craving attention runs in the evolutionary line," Julie commented. I looked over at her to see that Toddle had flown back up to her platform and was nudging her hand with his head. She patted him, laughing. "And here I was thinking you were just abnormal!" Toddle playfully attempted to shove her over the railing and off the platform. "Ack! I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Get back down there; you're not finished battling." I laughed as Toddle sulkily descended to the arena.

I glanced down at Karin, who had so far been watching the battle eagerly with her face pressed up to the railing. She looked up at me now, her expression pleading. "You want a turn?" I offered.

She nodded eagerly. "Sandslash!" She clambered up and over the railing, leaping off the platform. She rolled with the impact and got up, unscathed. However, in her excitement she forgot to avoid the Toxic Spikes and wound up getting poisoned. Goodie.

"Toddle! Use Sky Attack!" Toddle began glowing with an intensely bright light, storing up his energy.

"Quick, Karin, use Crush Claw!" Karin rushed up to Toddle, slashing one of his wings with her claws. He listed dangerously to one side, but recovered enough to pull off his attack. Karin was sent flying, finally tumbling to a halt halfway across the arena. "Rollout!" She curled into a tight ball, rolling at high speed. Toddle tried to move out of the way but was unable to in time. He plummeted to the ground, but got up as Karin was turning around to come back for another blow.

"Oh, darn, you're weak to Rock attacks! Try, um, Metronome, and hurry!" Toddle pulled off the attack right as Karin reached him. Unfortunately for both of us, the move became Selfdestruct. The resulting explosion knocked both Pokémon out.

"Bad luck," Julie soothed her Pokémon as she recalled him. "You did really well, though."

"You, too, Karin," I agreed, putting my own Pokémon back in her Pokéball. Julie and I both chose our next partners at the same time.

"Cinder! I know you can do it!" A Typhlosion materialized on the floor of the arena, the ring of fire around his neck blazing.

"Go, Matt!" My Feraligatr, unfortunately, was released right in the middle of the Toxic Spikes that Nadia had set up, leaving him poisoned. "Ugh. Fail."

Julie laughed. "I guess you still say fail all the time?" Without waiting for an answer, she went on, "That's the Totodile—er, well, _was_ the Totodile you got from Professor Elm, right?" She grinned widely at Matt, who seemed to recognize her. "Last time I saw you, you were still a Croconaw trailing after Rachel here."

"Yup. I remember that; wasn't it right before you left for Kanto?" I smirked. "You were creepily waiting for me at the Olivine Gym and barged out to tell me that the Gym leader wasn't there, that the Pokémon at the Lighthouse was sick, and that you were going to be leaving for Kanto. Actually, let me rephrase that. You burst out of the gym, declared something along the lines of 'I will slay you'—which really concerned me, by the way—and then you had me kick your but, after which you finally told me all the stuff you were waiting to tell me…in your own, extremely creepy way…."

Julie turned red at the mention of her defeat. "Ah, um…aren't we in the middle of a battle? Cinder, use Swift!" Cinder shot golden stars out of his mouth; their points left scratches all over Matt.

"Use Crunch!" Matt advanced on the Fire-type, opening his mouth wide. Cinder tried to dart out of the way but before he could move an inch, Matt's jaws clamped down on his arm. He shrieked, trying to pull away. Matt let go of him, and Cinder stumbled backwards from the sudden release.

"Hang in there, Cinder! Try Quick Attack!" Cinder growled and darted forward faster than the eye could follow. Before anyone could even blink, he was back in his original position and Matt was clutching his stomach, where Cinder had, I assume, tackled him.

"Are you okay, Matt?" The Water-type nodded, straightening up. "Great! So, um, use Water Gun!" Matt shot a steady stream of water right at the fire around Cinder's neck; it hissed and steamed at the water hit it, flickering ominously. Cinder roared with pain and squirmed away.

"Flamethrower! Give it your best shot!" Cinder spat out a massive plume of fire that struck Matt right in the chest. He winced, steadfastly enduring the attack. The skin on his front was slightly singed, but all in all it could have been worse. Thankfully he was resistant to Fire-type attacks.

"Hit him with another Water Gun!" After suffering through another deluge of water that left his fur damp (the heat so notoriously radiated by Typhlosion prevented him from becoming completely soaked), Cinder was left panting. Matt wasn't in much better shape; the poisoning he had taken from the Toxic Spikes was weakening him significantly.

"Okay…I know you can do it, Cinder! Use Rollout!" Much like Karin had, Cinder curled into a ball and tackled Matt again and again. Matt landed hits where he could, but the increasingly powerful Rollouts he was taking and his poisoning made for a bad combination. He collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. Cinder was just barely standing.

"Well done, Matt. Return." I called Matt back to his Pokéball, biting my lip. I was down to my last Pokémon. It was also my most powerful, but still. One Pokémon between victory and having to challenge the League all over again.

I tossed my Master Ball into the arena. "Go, Keshet!" What materialized was a towering birdlike creature, mostly red with golden tail feathers. Keshet was my Ho-oh—one of the legendary Pokémon Julie loved so much. Of course, the moment was ruined by the Toxic Spikes taking effect. "I hate your Nidorina right now, Julie. I really, really do."

Julie ignored me; she was still staring at Keshet, clearly awed beyond belief. "When did you catch _Ho-oh_?" she asked excitedly, fumbling with a Ball attached to her belt.

"A couple of months ago. Basically I found this weird feather thing and the Kimono girls helped me figure out what to do with it," I replied, patting the rather tall legendary's thigh, which was the highest point of it that I could reach even on these platforms.

"Cinder, you've done great. Thank you. Return!"

I stared at Julie as she returned her prized Pokémon. "Are you insane?" I demanded. "You just forfeited the round!"

Julie held a hand over her heart and assumed a pained expression. "Oh, Rachel, your words of hatred wound me so. In fact, the many, many things you have said to me have driven me to the brink of destruction. I may not survive this, Rachel. Just stick me in a verbal abuse recovery program, why don't you, just leave me to rot there in peace while I lament over your insults. Oh, Rachel, why do you say these hurtful things to me? Why, Rachel?" Julie replied in a dramatic voice, replacing Cinder's Pokéball and fingering another in her other hand.

"…I have nothing to say to that."

Julie grinned. "Mission accomplished. Soooo, on that note—you said the Kimono Girls helped you out?"

"Yeah. They're the ones who showed me how to summon Keshet."

Julie smiled. "Interesting. It just so happens that they've done me a favor, too—you're up, Kamoana!" She tossed out a purple-and-pink Pokeball just like mine. Huh…where did Julie get a Master Ball from? It's not like they were exactly commonplace. And from it emerged…

"You caught Lugia!" I gaped up at the equally large Pokémon, who was eying up its opponent.

"I didn't intend to," Julie explained sheepishly. "I just wanted to see it. But Kamoana here challenged me, so we battled. I won, and, well, here we are."

"This is going to be epic," I crowed, grinning widely up at the two legendaries.

"Yup," Julie agreed, smiling as well. "Ready, Kamoana? Use Rain Dance!"

"Counter that with Sunny Day!" I commanded as the first drops of water began to fall from a mysteriously appearing cloud cover in the center of the room. A globe of light appeared in the arena, canceling out the effects of Kamoana's Rain Dance.

Julie scowled. "Ugh. You suck, Rachel. Fine, Kamoana, let's use Extrasensory!" Kamoana narrowed its eyes, which glowed with a pinkish light, and stared right into Keshet's.

Keshet squawked angrily, futilely whipping its head from side to side in hopes of shaking off the Psychic attack. "Come on, Keshet, you can withstand this! Use Sacred Fire!" Keshet shot eerie pinkish-red flames from its beak and straight into Kamoana's face. Kamoana shrieked, trying to smother the flames. The feathers on its face were left badly singed; the attack had inflicted a burn.

"Calm down, Kamoana!" Julie soothed the angry legendary. "Relax and use Hydro Pump!" Crying out with rage, Kamoana shot a huge gush of water out of its mouth. Keshet screamed, trying to beat the water away with his wings.

"Keshet, use AncientPower!" A silver ball of energy formed inside Keshet's open beak, which was then sent flying into Kamoana's chest.

"Aeroblast!" The massive beam of blue energy struck Keshet's left wing.

"Another AncientPower!" The second attack left Kamoana panting and Julie visibly worried.

"Use AncientPower right back at it!"

Keshet was doubly weak to Rock, as evidenced by the pitiful state this left it in. Both legendaries were down to their last legs.

"Okay—this is our last shot!" I nervously informed my Pokémon. "Make this one count! Use Sacred Fire!"

Julie was not to be outdone. "Quick—Aeroblast!"

The two Pokémon released their attacks at the same time. They collided, vying with each other for dominance, and then—

_Boom._

The combined attacks resulted in an explosion. Julie and I both yelped and shielded our eyes from the bright flash of light.

The light faded away, and we looked out at the arena.

Both Pokémon were down.

A knot formed in my stomach. "So—so who wins?" I asked weakly, looking over at Julie.

Julie's face was twisted. She was silent for a moment or two. "I think I do, just because I'm Champion," she sighed finally.

"No!" My stomach dropped into my toes. I'd come all this way and lost! I couldn't believe it. "Are you sure?" I pleased. Forget dethroning Julie—I wanted this so badly! I'd worked so hard for it!

"Absolutely positive," Julie sighed regretfully. "It doesn't seem fair at all, but it's true." She shook her head slowly. "Better call back our Pokémon." I nodded slowly, blinking back tears or frustration as I pulled out Keshet's Pokéball.

"…No. Wait. We have a winner."

I looked up so quickly I nearly cricked my neck. "There is? We do?"

A small, half-happy and half-sad smile had replaced her earlier dismay. "Yeah. Look."

Keshet was struggling to his feet, and succeeding at it.

"You won, Rachel!"

I couldn't believe my ears. "I…won?"

"Yeah!" Julie was now grinning widely.

I was barely aware of recalling Keshet and descending from the platforms. Julie gave me a long speech about how my Pokémon and I had worked hard to get here and that we had grown so strong together and how proud she was that it was me who did it. My mind was entirely focused on the fact that _I had won_. I had little brainpower to focus on anything else.

I didn't even realize Professor Oak was jabbering away in my ear until Julie started reprimanding him and Mary, a radio show host, for interrupting a League ceremony. "Um, Professor Oak…I know you're famous and all…but please go away. You can get your interview later! Right now, Rachel and I have important Champion business to take care of!" And then I was forcefully dragged off down a long and dimly lit hallway.

"Julie?" I asked hesitantly as we left the two behind.

"Yeeees?" Julie asked distractedly, not looking at me.

"Are you…you know, are you disappointed that you lost?"

"Well, no one likes losing, you know?" She shrugged. "But at the same time—not really." I stared at her, waiting for more, but she didn't elaborate. She just kept walking, looking straight ahead.

At long last, we reached a room with a large machine. "This is where I'll register you as…as the new Champion." A bright smile was etched on her face. I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. "On two conditions."

I blinked. "Which are?"

"One: I get visiting rights. Champion life gets boring; you'll be glad for the visitors." She grinned widely. "And two: don't you dare get rid of my door. That Keep the Champion Happy Fund does not extend to my door no matter how much they threaten you. They try to take it down, you kidnap it and bring it to me, or else I will _haunt you 'til you die. _You don't have to keep the throne, but I want it if you don't."

"Deal," I replied, grinning back. I hugged her; Julie stood there stiffly. Julie was not a hugger. Then she hit me in the arm once I was done to keep up with appearances.

Julie stepped back, linking her hands behind her back. "Okey-dokey then! Put all your Pokéballs on here—in these slots, like this—yeah, that's right. And you stand here. Okay? Okay." She surveyed me standing there, waiting with butterflies in my stomach. She smiled…proudly? "Now, push that button there."

"The red one?"

"No, the purple one. _Yes_, the red one; that's the only button on the whole machine, Rachel!"

I pushed in the button and heard the machine, rather like those at a Pokémon Center, rumble to life and begin scanning the contents of my Pokéballs. I glanced over at Julie. She was leaning against a wall, facing the right of the room. She kind of looked sad, but not really; it was a content sort of look, a kind of half sad and half happy kind. She glanced over; I looked away quickly.

The machine slowed and soon stopped, displaying all the statistics of each of the Pokémon I had with me on a screen above my head. Julie and I looked up at it, reading everything over. A banner at the top of the screen read, _Congratulations, Rachel Lladas, new League Champion! _I felt pride for myself and my Pokémon well up deep inside me.

"This is just the beginning." Julie's quiet voice startled me, and I turned to look at her. She was still looking at the screen, but had a distant look in her eyes. "This is the informal acceptance into the League. They've still got to review the surveillance videos of the battle, make sure everything went according to the rules. If all goes well, as it should, there's the formal ceremony where you really get instated as the new Champion, and then there's the public announcement, and big, fancy dinners you have to go to, and more publicity stuff. I hated all that publicity stuff and the dinner and wanted to kill myself, but it wasn't _too_ bad. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course!" I agreed excitedly. This was my life's goal, after all.

"Good. I think you'll do well at it. I think you'll like all that stuff." She looked away from the screen as it went blank again. "Guess I wasn't meant for this place after all. I'll miss it here." She grinned widely. "But I get to keep traveling now. And you're _Champion_ now. This is what you've always wanted, right? And I get to witness it!"

I knew then that this was _exactly_ what she'd wanted, too, right from the second I walked through those golden doors.

_Happy Birthday, Rachel! Do you think you can surpass me here, too?_


End file.
